


Three Hours South of Seattle

by mimanchiandrea



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Andrew DeLuca - Freeform, Based on Grey's Anatomy, F/M, Inspired by Grey's Anatomy, Meredith Grey - Freeform, Merluca - Freeform, Road Trip, carina deluca - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:47:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23233489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimanchiandrea/pseuds/mimanchiandrea
Summary: A one-shot that follows after the events of 16x18. Meredith and Carina set out on a road trip to bring Andrew home.
Relationships: MerLuca, Meredith Grey/Andrew DeLuca
Comments: 10
Kudos: 60





	Three Hours South of Seattle

Meredith sat behind the wheel driving three hours south of Seattle to the middle of nowhere. Carina DeLuca was her passenger. This was all happening because Andrew had gotten arrested for reckless motorcycle driving. With his new found attitude, he pissed the cops off where he was then placed in jail. The fact that not too long ago he lied about committing a felony didn’t exactly help him either. 

This behavior that Andrew had been having the past weeks terrified Meredith. When he lost it during the pro-bono surgery day, she nearly fell apart herself. He broke down in front of everyone, standing on a chair yelling and crying. Meredith had begun to fear she had lost him forever, but then she got a call from him early in the morning. 

“Hello?” asked a very confused and very sleepy Meredith. 

“Mer,” responded Andrew. 

“Andrew? Where are you? Who’s phone is this?” questioned Meredith. 

“I’m-I’m in jail. I got arrested for reckless driving,” revealed Andrew. 

“What? Oh my God, are you okay?” worried Meredith. 

“I’m fine, I just need you to pick me up. I know it’s a big request after everything and I’m nearly three hours away, but I need you and you’re the only person I trust. So, can you come get me? Please?” asked Andrew. 

“Of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can just let me get the kids taken care of and off to school,” agreed Meredith. 

“Thank you,” replied Andrew. 

“You’re welcome. Just hold on tight, okay?” said Meredith. 

“Okay,” responded Andrew. 

Meredith then immediately got ready and called Carina. Carina practically demanded that she come and Meredith agreed to drive them. 

In some strange way, Meredith felt happy. Maybe that wasn’t the right word, but she felt hopeful. He called her. He reached out to her. He trusted her. He needed her. Andrew finally sounded like himself on the phone and he was just one step closer to getting the help he needs. 

“Did he say if he was hurt?” asked Carina, breaking the silence. 

“No, I don’t think so. But that damn motorcycle has got to go, it’s incredibly dangerous,” responded Meredith. 

“Normally he’s a good driver,” sighed Carina. 

Carina said it in a way that was less defensive and more heartbroken. Normally he is a good driver, but not right now. Not when he’s sick. Meredith knew that she wasn’t the only one scared out of her mind about Andrew. Carina was in tears during Andrew’s breakdown. 

“You okay?” asked Meredith. 

“Yeah. I’m fine,” responded Carina. 

“You don’t sound so sure about that,” said Meredith. 

Carina just shrugged her shoulders and looked outside of her window. 

“Have you always dealt with this on your own? Your father’s illness I mean,” wondered Meredith. 

“Not in the beginning. I was still a child when he first started show symptoms. Our mother took care of him, but after this one incident it became too much for her. She took Andrea to the states and I decided to stay. I was about to go to college in Italy anyway. So, for awhile it was just me and he started to get better but I still needed to look after him. Then my mama passed away and Andrea needed me to look after him too. I knew that it was only a matter of time that he would show symptoms too, so I got a job here and I go back and forth to take care of them both,” let out Carina. 

“I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this on your own. I know what it’s like to take care of a sick parent. My mother wasn’t the easiest person in the world to get along with and when she got Alzheimer’s, I was the only person left to take care of her. It’s one of the most painful things in the world to watch a person you love transform into a completely different person and you having no ability at all to help them,” understood Meredith. 

“I wanted better for Andrea. He’s always been so kind and so smart, I wanted him to be free from this. My mother wanted that for him too, so when papa would have an episode we agreed not to tell him. I wanted him to have a normal, happy life. Now he’s a complete mess and I’m all alone dealing with it once again. I wish mama was here, she would know what to do,” said Carina. 

“Carina, you’re not alone anymore. I’m here and I can help you and him,” responded Meredith. 

“You know, I’ve always been hesitant of you and your relationship with Andrea,” revealed Carina. 

“Why?” questioned Meredith. 

“Well, its nothing personal. It’s just Andrea as you know, love deeply and passionately. He falls so hard and all the way in. And all I have ever heard from him since you two had your first date was how much he loves you and how happy you make him and how you are the best person he has ever met. He has always been just so crazy about you. And it worried me because I doubted that you felt the same. You are this legend of a surgeon and so well respected in the medical world. You have been married, you’re a mother. And I love my brother, but he is nowhere near close to any of those things. I guess I was worried because I thought you were just using him. That you saw him as an attractive fling that you eventually get bored with and move on to someone who made more sense. Then my brother would be completely devastated and heartbroken,” explained Carina. 

“Well, okay. Wow. That’s a lot. I can see where you are coming from. Andrew and I have gotten a lot of weird reactions to us dating. Some of my friends were happy for us, some joked about it, and some were very confused as to where this was all coming from. And us being together was just as equally strange and confusing to Andrew and I as to everyone else. For nearly four years, Andrew was just my resident. I saw him as nothing else and then he got really drunk at a wedding and completely embarrassed himself by kissing me. We laughed if off a few days later, but things never went back to normal for us. We started talking and getting to know each other more. And then he confessed his feelings for me in a beautiful way and I was terrified because I also felt something so real for him. After my husband died, I sincerely thought I could never love anyone again. And nothing made me change that opinion. So my feelings that I was developing for Andrew were scary. Then we got trapped in an elevator and we talked and we laughed and we nearly kissed. And it just felt so right. He told me about your father and the people that died in that elevator. We were both surprised that we felt so comfortable talking to each other. And with a few more bumps in the road we started dating. 

“And I completely understand where your worrying came from because I honestly had no idea what I wanted out of our relationship either. It’s hard for me to trust in forever and to allow someone new in, in that way. But for the first time since Derek, it just felt right. Us being together. When I was with Andrew, I felt no guilt. For so long I had just been existing. I had buried myself in my work and my kids that I started living for other people, just to get me through the day. Then with Andrew, he allowed me to start living for myself again. When I’m with him, I just feel happy and at ease and loved. He’s a real thing for me Carina and him possibly being bipolar doesn’t scare me away. He has done so much for me and my kids in the last year, that there is no way in hell I’m leaving him now when he needs me the most,” said Meredith. 

“So you love him?” asked Carina. 

“More than you can possibly know,” answered Meredith. 

“I think he can still have all of the things I wanted for him, with you,” says Carina. 

“I hope so,” responded Meredith. 

Now with the tension out of the way, Meredith and Carina spent the rest of the ride talking and laughing. They told each other about their lives, talked about Andrew, Carina’s new girlfriend, and about nearly everything. Finally, the two arrived to pick up Andrew. 

“Hey jailbird,” greeted Meredith. 

“Hey. I guess busting each other out of jail is kind of our thing now,” replied Andrew. 

“Yeah, can we stop making a habit out of that?” interrupted Carina. 

“Carina? What are you doing here?” questioned a surprised Andrew. 

“Your idiot self managed to get arrested once again, of course I am here,” argued Carina. 

“Carina calm down, I wasn’t even driving that fast,” defended Andrew. 

“Well even a tiny bit fast is too fast for me. My husband died with brain injury after a semi hit his car, remember? And my best friend left me this week, so I really, really need you to be alive and with me, okay?” said Meredith. 

For the first time in weeks, Andrew looked at Meredith with nothing but love in his eyes. There was also remorse as he started to come to his senses of what he does done to her. 

“Mer, I’m so sorry. For everything,” apologized Andrew. 

“I know, I forgive you. And I’m sorry too, for not trusting you. Let’s just go home and we’ll figure all of this out. You, me, and Carina. Okay?” comforted Meredith. 

“Okay,” agreed Andrew.

“Hey Carina?” stated Meredith. 

“Yeah?” asked Carina. 

“You might wanna head to the car because I’m about to make out with your little brother,” warned Meredith. 

“That’s disgusting and oh wow you two are not even going to wait for me to get to the car,” replied a disgusted Carina. 

Andrew and Meredith continued kissing and then the three got ready for a long drive home, with a lot of that time involving the DeLuca siblings arguing in Italian.


End file.
